20th Century ephemera

Yesterday I spent part of my rainy afternoon looking around my grandmother's house. I didn't venture up into the attic or down into the cellar, but I snooped around her office and rustled around the beauty shop a bit. I found some really wonderful little bits and pieces that I was going to share with folks in 1 3 8 5 packages (what a perfect place to find little gifts for packages too!) but, now I'm just not sure I can part with it!

For starters, I found a stack of blank notebooks. Wide ruled, grid - my heart was palpitating at the sight!!



I also found one of my great grandfather's old ledgers from the 20s... There's some writing at the beginning of the book - but there's so much blank paper with the stamped numbers at each corner!! I pay an arm and a leg for new grid paper with the numbers at the stationary store, so finding a whole bunch of it was like finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow!!!



And can I just say - short hand math is so dreamy! My favorite is division - but addition is beautiful too!



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One of my favorite things to do in Boston is to visit Bob Slate. I would love it even more if they still carried their old stock so I could pick up more of these labels...









... well, at least my grandmother held onto hers!!

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I also came across this funny little box. I'm not entirely sure what's inside - or what it's used for - but this package is a marvel (or maybe a failure?) of industrial design. It basically has printed directions on every flap, edge, and side - Pull - Push - Stop!





I could bore you with photographing each step (be it correct or incorrect) of opening the package, but I guess it's nice to have such support!!

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Awh, and a little book of airmail stamps ... it's a pity it doesn't exist in the US anymore - such nice supplies!





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I now have a lovely little collection of Little Blue Books - my favorite being the "How to Write a Telegram"



The metal index card holder makes a perfect new home for it and a few family photographs I found laying around in a pile.



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I did manage to gather up a bunch of bobby pin cards and a stack of maps for my packages ... I usually forget to tuck the hair pin cards in when I'm bundling dresses, but I now have two boxes of the cards so from here on out they'll be mailing staples!